Hoping in and around Glasgow.

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Day spent driving around on the hop on hop off bus just orientating ourselves around what for us is a new city. Some parts of Glasgow are as I anticipated, that is, pretty tough looking and fairly brutal (in their architectur!) but there are some charming sections for sure. It's not as old as Edinburgh and most buildings have been bombed, burnt or just bashed down under the banner of urban renewal so the city sprawls out in a manner that 'old Edinburgh' does not. Additionally the M8 motorway cuts through the city like some ugly scar meaning that in some areas the constant noise of traffic is the background to any conversation. Apparently the Clyde Bridge on the M8 has the greatest traffic flow, or traffic density, of any river bridge in Europe. I'll listen carefully and get the correct statistics tomorrow. There are some delightful areas, particularly around Britain's fourth oldest Uni, and the buildings and parks there are elegant and attractive.

The photos come from a tenement house museum appropriately named the Tenement House Museum. Some lady who had never thrown away a thing in her life had died after spending 10 years in an institution, so everything in her house was as it was when she had walked out the door. Someone bought the place, realised the value in it and sold it to the Scottish National Trust. Apparently it had recipes, knitting instructions, pots, pans and everything in it so it was a super valuable asset and they turned into an interesting museum.

Also went to the Transport Museum, an interesting and entertaining assortment of bits and pieces loosely connected to transport in some way. There was an exhibit, for instance, of the 'trammies division, where more than 1100 tram drivers and conductors enlisted in the 'Great War'. They marched off in their tram uniforms, really. But it was a busy and busting museum and quite interesting.

Bit it's bedtime now. The hop on hop off continues tomorrow.

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